Pro Bono
by Sweetheart Seer
Summary: Annabeth Chase is a hotshot lawyer with a perfect winning streak and the inability to back down from a challenge. So when her best friend and coworker, Piper McLean, challenges her to take on the seemingly impossible case of Percy Jackson, a man accused of the decade old murder of his step father, who is she to refuse?
1. The Body in the Bay

"At approximately 7:36 Wednesday morning, the skeletal remains of an unidentified corpse were pulled out of the Hudson River by a local fisherman after they became tangled in his nets. These remains have now been identified as those of one Gabriel Ugliano." The woman on the television's voice was small and tinny, seemingly far away as she recounted the details of the current breaking news. Annabeth Chase glanced away from her paperwork and looked up at the flat screen mounted on the wall, her grey eyes focusing on the chipper brunette as she recalled the details of the body recovery with a bright, shiny smile plastered on her face the entire time.

"Ugly is right," the other woman in the room spoke up with a bit of a cheeky smile tugging up the corners of her lips. She was absentmindedly twisting her caramel colored hair into a braid as she spoke, "he looks like a walrus with no tusks," Piper McLean added as she glanced over at her friend and coworker. Annabeth rolled her eyes and closed her latest case file. She then turned up the volume on the television to hear the rest of the story.

"Ugliano disappeared twelve years ago from his Manhattan apartment, leaving behind his wife Sally Jackson and a delinquent stepson, Perseus Jackson, who was the main suspect in his disappearance, but due to a lack of evidence and no body, his case went cold without any sort of conviction. With the identification of the remains, Jackson is currently being taken into custody for questioning as I speak," as the woman finished talking, remaining peppy the entire time, the image on the screen switched over from the newsroom to a shaky live feed outside a rundown apartment building where a struggling young man in grease covered jeans and a well-worn blue shirt was being dragged from the front steps by two burly looking policemen. Annabeth sat up a bit straighter as she watched in curiosity. Over the sirens and yelling of the press, a few of his shouts and outcries could be heard.

"Let me go! I didn't do anything!" He hollered loudly, pulling against both the officers and the silver cuffs clamped tightly around his wrists. The camera panned around, following his movements as he was shoved into the backseat of a cruiser, Piper let out a low whistle, causing the blonde woman to tear her eyes away from the screen to look at her friend and fellow lawyer once again.

"He's a cutie," she said with a shrug, her deft fingers working to untangle the numerous braids from her hair. Annabeth stared at her like she had grown a second head.

"Piper, he's a potential murderer, and you have a fiancé, remember him? He's about 6'3, blond hair, blue eyes, is a pilot. Does any of this ring a bell?" She drawled while quirking up an eyebrow as she watched her in amusement. The two were an interesting combination, and one that not many people would have expected. Though they had both graduated in the tops of their classes in high school, and Annabeth had only barely beaten Piper for Summa Cum Laude in law school, their similarities ended there.

Annabeth was the more logical of the two and everything she did was based on facts and knowledge. Paired with her ruthlessness in the courtroom, she had never lost a case, and never intended too. She had been raised by a military historian father and a distant stepmother. She had always thrown herself full heartedly into her studies and had gotten through all of her schooling on a free ride scholarship. Piper, on the other hand, was the daughter of famous actor Tristan McLean, and had gone through a bit of a wild streak in her teenage years. The former pageant queen had stolen a BMW from a dealership, just to see if she could. When she entered law school, everyone was a bit shocked.

Piper rolled her eyes and flippantly waved her hand. "Oh shut up. I love Jason, but he was cute! With those big green eyes, he reminded me of a baby seal." Annabeth sighed and shook her head. Piper was strange sometimes.

"He's going to be behind bars for the rest of his life. I remember hearing about his case when his stepfather went missing twelve years ago; it got national coverage. The reason he wasn't arrested fell down to the prosecution misfiling evidence against him and the fact that the body was never found," she murmured absentmindedly and skimmed a petty crime file. Piper's face broke out in a wicked grin as she listened to Annabeth's muttering.

"So, what I'm hearing is, this is an impossible case," she said slowly, rolling her chair over to sit in front of Annabeth's desk, her elbows resting on the sleek glass surface. Annabeth looked up at her slowly, dread seeping into her mind when she saw the crooked grin Piper only wore when she was about to do something crazy, like paint a fraternity pink or cut off her hair with a dull pair of scissors.

"Pipes, what are you getting at?" Annabeth asked slowly, though she already knew. Her suspicions were only confirmed by the mischief filled glint in Piper's multi-colored eyes.

"Well, you are always up for a challenge aren't you? Plus, imagine if you won this case, of the publicity we would get. Take the case, unless of course, you are afraid you won't win," Piper challenged, her grin growing wider. She had a certain way with words that made her hard to refuse, and she did have a good gut for making decisions, which is something Annabeth never would have thought possible if not for watching it in action day after day.

"You know what, McLean, fine, I'll defend Mr. Perseus Jackson, and I'm going to win," Annabeth declared triumphantly while slamming closed the current open files that littered her desk. The small office was cluttered with open files, information tacked on bulletin boards, written on the whiteboards that covered an entire wall. Though they were relatively new to the game, both of them only three years out of school, and their firm had been entirely built from the ground up, the law firm of Chase and McLean was growing quickly with every seemingly impossible case the two women won. Cases flooded in left and right and Annabeth insisted on reading through all of them.

The young woman stood up and straightened out her skirt before grabbing her jacket from the back of her chair. "I need to get a move on if I want to beat the media shitstorm that is no doubt already swarming the station," Annabeth muttered and shrugged on the smart blazer over her green blouse. "I trust you can manage things here without me?" She pointlessly asked Piper as she walked towards the frosted glass door. Piper looked up from fiddling with her engagement ring. Ever since Jason had proposed, she could hardly tear her eyes away from the ring that adorned her left hand. Hell, sometimes even Annabeth had trouble looking away, the stone was gorgeous.

"You know I can hold down the fort, don't worry," she assured the blonde, waving at her as she hurried out of the office. Annabeth's heels clicked against the sidewalk as she hurried down the street, her blonde ponytail swaying rhythmically with each step. The firm was only a few mere blocks from the police station, which made impromptu pro bono cases much easier.

The closer she got to the station, the louder the buzz of the press became. They were such pests sometimes, like vultures feeding on any scrap of information they could get their hands on. People always said lawyers were heartless bottom feeders, but clearly they had never met a reporter. Media vans were making traffic impossible. Reporters, lookie-loos, and police officers crowded the steps leading up to the station. Annabeth sighed and braced herself before trying to squeeze her way past the crowd and up into the police station itself.

The crowd was hardly any better inside. She actually recognized quite a few of the faces in the room, many of them being other lawyers. Of course they would be there as well; she could never seem to catch a break. Amongst the crowd, she was able to pick out the face of Clarisse LaRue. The two had shared many of the same classes while still in law school and needless to say, they did not get along.

"Excuse me, pardon me, sorry, move!" The agitated woman said as she squeezed her way up to the receptionist's desk with an absurd amount of difficulty. She opened her mouth to speak but the woman behind the desk held up her hand to silence her before she could so much as breathe.

"Press or lawyer? If the former, scram, if the latter, get in line, " the woman snapped at Annabeth exasperatedly, not so much as looking up from her paperwork, as though she had already asked that very same question numerous times that morning. Annabeth offered a slight prayer of thanks to whoever was up in the sky looking down on her.

"Mellie, it's me, Annabeth Chase," she said lowly, offering the frazzled looking woman a smile. The petite woman's brown eyes softened when she saw who she was speaking too. The pair had a history that continuously proved useful. Mellie, at one time, had been the assistant to the eccentric weatherman Adam Gale. After he had a mental breakdown on the air, the station had to hire a lawyer to legally be able to fire him due to contractual obligations. Thanks to Piper and Annabeth, the station had won the lawsuit and even gave Mellie a rather large sum of money for dealing with Adam. She had found a new job at the police station and tended to help out the two young lawyers whenever she was able.

"You should have said that from the start," Mellie said with a soft laugh, smiling at Annabeth. "I take it you're here to see our newest arrival?" She asked, though she already knew the answer. It appeared everyone was there to see Perseus Jackson. Annabeth nodded, a sheepish smile on her face. "Annie, you know that technically I shouldn't let you through to see him, he hasn't asked for a lawyer yet," her face fell as she listened to Mellie, "But, considering you're already here, and I am simply assuming you are taking the case pro bono-" she looked up at Annabeth once again, who quickly nodded, "then I see no problem with letting you speak to your client before he has the chance to incriminate himself."

Annabeth grinned viciously, "Mel, I could kiss you right now." The receptionist let out a tinkling laugh as she stood up slowly, her pregnant belly looking as if it was about to pop. Upon seeing her heave herself up, Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Mellie, sit down this second. Just tell me where he is and I can go find him, I am not going to make you walk," she scolded her lightly. The receptionist laughed and shook her head softly as Annabeth berated her.

"Third interrogation room on the left, here's your badge, don't tell anyone I let you sneak past," she added with a conspiratorial wink as Annabeth darted off, the blonde calling over her shoulder to invite her to the baby shower as she hurried away.

It was astounding, stepping from the crowd of people into the relatively empty hallway. Annabeth felt like she could breathe freely, how Mellie handled it all day she had no idea. The woman hung the visitor badge around her neck as she counted the doors on the left, though she assumed it was the one with an officer stationed outside it. One, two, three… Smiling thinly, she walked over to the door.

"Hello, I'm Annabeth Chase, Mr. Jackson's lawyer, I would like a moment alone with my client." The officer outside the door, a behemoth of a man with a…was that a rainbow tattoo, on his left bicep, looked at her presumptuously. Annabeth flashed him the badge with another smile. He sighed and hauled himself up from the chair, only to step inside the room. He came back out a moment later with two officers following him- one looked particularly disgruntled officer had a swollen eye.

"Go ahead in," the officer with the rainbow tattoo said gruffly, "we will be on the other side of the mirror." She took a moment to compose herself, readjusting her black pencil skirt and blazer, making sure her blouse was properly tucked in, fixing her hair and lipstick. With another deep breath, she put on her poker face, void of any emotion, as she swung open the heavy door and stepped into the steel plated interrogation room.

"Who the hell are you?"


	2. Start from the Beginning

Annabeth blinked a few times as she took in his brusque words, raising one of her eyebrows in indignation. She hadn't quite expected the roughness of his tone, but then again, he had just been taken into custody like a common criminal for a murder that took place over a decade beforehand.

"Annabeth Chase of Chase and McLean Law, I'm your lawyer," she said dryly, letting the door fall shut behind her as she stepped forward into her room. The sound of her clicking heels resonated throughout the room, echoing off the metal walls. The double sided mirror spanned almost an entire wall and even though she couldn't see the police, she was sure they were watching her.

"I never asked for a-" The man began, looking at her in a bit confusion before she held up her hand, her eyes darting back to the mirror where the police were watching. The last thing she needed was for Mellie to get into any sort of trouble for letting her through to see her unofficial client. Thankfully, he seemed to understand what she meant and shut his mouth, maybe he wasn't entirely a hopeless case.

Annabeth took the chair across from him, the sound of metal scraping against concrete making her teeth grind. Up close, she had to greatly disagree with Piper's statement about him looking like a baby seal. His eyes were alight with what she could only compare to green fire, blazing and burning in anger, though she could hardly blame him. He had been dragged to the police station like he already had been convicted. His hair fell in his face and he seemed to be long overdue for a haircut. He reached up to rub his stubble covered jaw as though it hurt. A faint purpled bruise was blooming on his skin. He definitely did not look like a baby seal, in fact, she would have said he looked more like a wolf.

"So, Mr. Jackson," Annabeth began, folding her hands on the stainless steel table. Before she could continue to speak, he cut her off.

"Percy," he corrected her, "no one calls me Mr. Jackson, unless, of course, they are trying to arrest me," he added with a sardonic smile. She met his smile with a thin one of her own.

"Pardon my mistake, _Percy_. Now, what all have you told the police? Anything incriminating? Please tell me it has been nothing incriminating," she questioned, throwing in the last sentence exasperatedly. She'd had to defend clients in the past who could do everything but keep their mouths shut. She glanced over her shoulder, looking back towards the double sided mirror as if looking directly at the police officers behind it with her stormy gaze.

Percy snorted and rubbed at his jaw again. "I am not as stupid as I look you know," he grumbled and watched her with that wolfish stare, it honestly sent a chill down her spine, though she would never admit to that. It wasn't hard to assume he was capable of murder when he stared like that.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I have to ask that," she informed him and stood up, "and that is all I needed to hear." The woman turned to face the mirror, as if signaling that she was done speaking to her client. Within the minute, the two interrogating officers stepped through the door, the particularly angry one was holding a can of soda up to his swollen eye.

"Your eye is looking a little swollen, Ultor. Get in a fight with a little girl again?" Percy asked, smirking at the police officer. The one he addressed as Ultor slammed the soda can down on the table, leaning over to get up in his face.

"Watch your mouth, punk. Just be glad I can't charge you with attacking an officer," he growled lowly, his eyes alight with rage. The second officer, a much calmer looking detective whose name tag read "H. Datura," placed her hand on his arm to draw him back. Whereas Ultor radiated anger, Datura seemed to exude an aura of peace, her eyes warm and soothing.

"Seth, calm down," she murmured, talking him down from a rampage from the looks of it. In all honesty, it was impressive how she calmed him with little to no effort. He glowered angrily at Percy, but took a step back. Annabeth cleared her throat loudly.

"Are you two planning on charging my client with anything? If not, you legally cannot continue to hold him and we will be on her way," she said cloyingly, her already pencil thin smile wearing even thinner. The two officers turned to stare at her and Percy leant back in his chair in amusement.

Seth Ultor opened his mouth before closing it, glaring. "No, we aren't charging him with anything, but don't leave the city, we may call you back for more questioning," Datura said firmly, as though making it painfully obvious that they would, in fact, be calling him back for questioning.

Annabeth motioned for Percy to stand. "In that case, we will be on our way now," she said smoothly, walking past the two detectives and out of the interrogation room, her new client close behind. As soon as they were out of earshot from the detectives, she began to speak.

"Antagonizing detectives who are trying to convict you of murder is not the smartest thing to do," she said dryly, walking hurriedly down the hall, only turning to face him before reaching the door that led to the main area of the precinct. He shrugged, his hands shoved in the pockets of his grease covered jeans.

"Ultor is an asshole, worked the case the first time around and has had a problem with me ever since," he said with another shrug. Annabeth sighed, he was not going to be an easy client. She opened the door and was grateful to see that the area had been cleared of any reporters and excess lawyers who had been swarming the area less than an hour beforehand.

As she led Percy out, though he seemed just as comfortable in the precinct as she was- a disconcerting thought- Mellie called over to her from the receptionist's desk. "Annie, there are reporters everywhere outside, so be careful!" She said kindly, flashing the young lawyer a sympathetic smile. Annabeth sighed and offered a small thanks before taking a deep breath and pushing open the doors, her poker face slipping on in preparation for the numerous reporters and excess of the press that hung from the station like spiders who were ready to feed on any information that might possible tangle into their webs, and, god did she hate spiders.

"Don't say a damn word," she muttered under her breath to Percy, though she doubted he would. One downside to having won so many high profile cases was the fact that it seemed every reporter knew her name.

"Ms. Chase! Ms. Chase! Are you defending Mr. Jackson against the murder charge?"

"Mr. Jackson! Did you do it?"

"Any statements?"

"Over here! Ms. Chase, over here!"

The yells and shouts of the reporters were a cacophonous symphony that made her ears ring and her teeth grind. She _really_ hated spiders. When one of the reporters for the local news stations shoved his microphone in her face, she turned to him fiercely, stopping on one of the steps that led down to the side walk abruptly.

"My client will be making no comments at this time, or any time for that matter. And there have been no charges issued at this moment, and I do not appreciate the insinuation that there will be any murder charges pressed against my client," she added sharply. Behind her, she could feel Percy's wolf stare as it bored down on the reporter. He really wasn't making any friends in the media, that would come back to bite him later.

Before anyone else could attempt to interview her, Annabeth grabbed hold of Percy's arm and began leading him down the steps roughly before walking away quickly, heading towards her office. Percy tugged his arm away from her as soon as they were out of sight from the reporters.

"You sure now how to handle the media," he said, just a hint of awe sneaking into his tone. She sighed heavily and kept up her brisk pace, not looking back to see if any reporters were following her, not looking over to meet his eyes as he spoke.

"And you don't. If you want any sort of sympathy, we will have to work on that. It's a wonder they didn't arrest you twelve years ago with the way you stare at reporters. You look like you may murder them," she said, her words pithy and caustic. He gave a slight shrug once again. God, he shrugged constantly as if everything was a breeze. He was facing possible murder charges and the most he could do was shrug like a petulant child.

Annabeth sighed as she led him into the office she shared with Piper. "We have a lot of work to do if we want to repair the public image that you have spent twelve years systematically shattering into thousands of pieces," she said with a sigh. Why did Piper have to dare her to take his case? When the two of them entered the firm, Piper was busy on her laptop, eyes closely watching the flickering screen, a smile on her face. The familiar voice of her fiancé, Jason, could be heard over the Apple's speakers.

"I love you more," she said playfully, her beautiful face lighting up in a smile. It never astounded Annabeth how Piper had won so many beauty pageants in her teenage years. Hell, before the "borrowing" the BMW incident, she was slated to be accepted as California's entrance into the Miss America pageant.

Jason's voice chimed up from the laptop. "No, I love you more," he challenged. It was sickening at times, how cutesy the two of them could be, but, she could understand it. Jason was currently stationed at the Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs and the distance was getting to the two of them. Annabeth cleared her throat and Piper shot up in the chair, her eyes widening.

"Babe, I have to go, I'll skype you later? Love you," she said hurriedly, blowing a kiss at the screen before she snapped her laptop shut. Percy was shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably, probably from the little love fest that had just gone on, or maybe it was because Piper was staring.

"Pipes, meet our newest client, Percy Jackson," Annabeth said with a dramatic flourish of her hand. The aforementioned client gave a crooked smile and slight wave of his hand, no doubt hoping it would stop the staring.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Percy," Piper said after regaining her tact. With a smile, she walked over and extended her hand for him to shake, which he ever so warily did. His posture was slumped as he ran a hand through his shaggy hair. Annabeth motioned for him to take a seat in one of the plush armchairs- no leather though, one of the downsides of sharing an office with a vegetarian.

"If we want to have any fighting chance if you get accused, we are going to have to hear the entire story, from the beginning, leave nothing out whatsoever," Annabeth ordered as she herself went to take a seat in her own chair, opening up her laptop so she could transcribe what he said. Percy furrowed his brow.

"Why? I didn't do it-" Annabeth cut him off.

"The first thing you need to know is that I don't care if you did it. I don't care if you slit his throat and drank his blood, all I care about is proving your innocence. I am never going to ask you if you are innocent. So, start from the beginning."


	3. A Difficult Client

"My mom had been married to Gabe for as long as I could remember," Percy began, leaning back in the chair with a sigh. "But I never thought of him as a father type of figure; I hated him. I used to call him Smelly Gabe behind his back." He paused when Annabeth looked at him dubiously.

"Smelly Gabe? That's original," she said dryly, an amused smirk pulling at the corners of her lips. Percy glowered at her.

"I came up with the name when I was a little kid, cut me some slack," he grumbled before beginning to resume his story. "Anyway, I hated him. He was always a real jerk to me and my mom. He was nice for about the first thirty seconds we knew him then he showed his true colors, and they weren't pretty. He bullied me constantly, taking my money, stinking up my room with his cigars, leaving his muddy boots all over my stuff. I'll never know why my mom stayed with him," he added and shook his head. His left leg bounced incessantly as he spoke, as though it was physically impossible for him to sit still for more than a few seconds at a time.

"Tell me about your mother then," Annabeth asked after a moment of contemplation. If "Smelly Gabe" was really as awful to the Jacksons' as Percy said he was, she could call on his mother in his defense. It was always a ploy that pulled at the jury's heart strings. Percy actually smiled, an honest to god genuine smile.

"My mom, Sally Jackson, she deserved to be married to a millionaire, someone who would treat her like a queen. When she was married to Gabe she still worked at Sweet on America-"

"Isn't that the candy shop in Grand Central Station?" Piper chimed in, cutting off the man's story once again. He nodded, a faint smile forming on his lips. While the pair fell into a brief conversation about candy and the merits of _blue _candy, in particular, Annabeth stood up and walked over to the state-of-the-art coffee pot in the corner, pouring herself a mug. She took a sip, letting it scald her tongue and burn its way down her throat, before moving back to her swivel chair and taking her seat.

When he saw her sit back down, Percy cleared his throat and quickly resumed his recollection of his life all those years ago. "She worked at Sweet on America, but she always wanted to go back to school. When she was younger, she'd had to drop out because her uncle had gotten sick and she had to take care of him," he added, almost sadly.

_He really cares about his mother, _Annabeth thought, _that could easily work in his defense if he is convicted. Everyone loves their mother, and more importantly, everyone loves their mother enough to kill for her. _

"But, Gabe never would have let her go back to school, he was controlling like that. He worked at an appliance store, but I never saw him work. I just saw him playing poker with his buddies, drinking beer, making my life and my mom's life a living hell." Annabeth sipped her still burning coffee. "But, I was never around much as a kid. I bounced from boarding school to boarding school- most of them were for troubled youth," he said in a much quieter tone, as though he was embarrassed and ashamed of that fact.

Piper gave him a reassuring smile, trying to put him at ease. "Don't worry, I went to one of those too-" she paused and grinned wistfully, "I stole a BMW to try and get my dad's attention when I was fifteen." Percy looked at her with a new type of respect, sitting up a little bit straighter as he started to speak once again.

"I never meant to get into trouble, it just followed me around, so my mom worked herself to the bone to try and keep me on the straight and narrow but I never could manage it. It just got worse when I was home. I couldn't stand to be around Gabe, I hated bullies and he was the worst one I had ever faced. When I was twelve I saw something I shouldn't have. Gabe and my mom had gotten into another fight, I don't even know what it was about, but there was so much yelling. When he raised his hand, my mom flinched." Percy set his jaw, like talking about it was making him want to kill Gabe. _Maybe he wanted to kill him all over again, _her mind added. He tightened his calloused hands into fists.

"I don't know why I never noticed it before. I don't know how I never put two and two together. He was hitting my mom and I was too busy being off at some boarding school for delinquent rejects to stop him." His leg began bouncing faster. "I pushed him away from her but he pushed back. He was bigger than me and there wasn't a damn thing I could do. That weekend I went out and wrecked his '95 Camaro to try and get him to focus on me instead of my mom," Percy's words faltered and he looked down. "It didn't work. Instead, he pressed charges against me and it went on my record. I was given two parole officers, Officer D and Officer Brunner, to make sure I didn't do it again. But I wouldn't have even if I could have."

"So, Gabe had it out for you after you wrecked his car?" Annabeth questioned, her fingers flying across the keys of her laptop as she typed out his story for future record. Percy nodded and loosened one of his fists, drumming his fingers on the armrest. When his arm shifted slightly, Annabeth noticed a tattoo on his forearm. It looked like a trident.

"I had trouble protecting my mom because I was gone so much, but when I came home when I was fourteen, I wasn't a scrawny little kid anymore. When he pushed me around, I pushed him back. When he thought I wasn't looking, he raised a hand to hit my mom-" Percy hesitated.

"Percy, go on, this is a safe place," Piper tried to reassure him, her voice soothing. It even made Annabeth relax.

He let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his bruised jaw. "I broke his wrist. I didn't think I could but I just snapped it. He started yelling and screaming at me and lunged at my mom again, but I decked him and we ran. The next morning when we came back, he was gone. Neither of us were too broken up about it. My mom reported him missing after the forty-eight hours were up, and that's when the police started snooping around, watching everything I did like I was gonna slip up or something." He shrugged.

"After the case finally dropped, I tried to get on with my life, but no one wants to hire the guy who was publicly accused of murder. I managed to finish high school, barely, and then I got a job at my buddy Leo's garage. I've been working there ever since. Sometimes if I need extra cash I give surfing lessons down at the beach, but now that everyone thinks I'm a killer again, those days are probably over with," he muttered. Annabeth watched him closely. As good as she was, she couldn't read him. She couldn't tell if he was telling the truth. If she remembered correctly, the evidence the prosecution had stacked against him the first time had been damning and he had only gotten off on technicalities.

"Are you sure that's everything? You didn't leave anything out?" She asked firmly, training her stormy eyes on him. He nodded.

"I've told that story enough times to know if I have left anything out." Percy looked up at the two young lawyers. "How much is this going to cost me? I don't have much to pay you guys with…"

Piper flashed him her signature charming smile. "Don't worry, Percy, we took this case pro bono," she said kindly. Annabeth tried to smile as well, but whenever she tried to be as charming as Piper she just felt sharkish, like the smile didn't reach her eyes. Percy looked at the two of them warily, she couldn't really blame him though. He had good reason to be suspicious of their motives. They had just swept in and offered to represent him, to defend him against possible murder charges, for free. Even Annabeth had to admit that the whole thing was a bit sketchy.

"Why are you two doing this? Nobody does something like this without having their reasons," he said defensively. Annabeth sighed and set down her steaming mug of coffee.

"I'll level with you Percy, your case is an impossible one. The public hates you, you terrify them. Not to mention you just barely got off the murder charges last time. Piper and I have a tendency to make the impossible cases possible. It's good for business," she admitted with a shrug. She hadn't gotten into law out of the goodness of her heart. She had a passion for architecture, but when she enrolled to study it, she found her mind was better suited towards law.

"So… I'm just a business ploy?" He asked slowly, sounding just a little hurt.

"That's the way the world works. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. Now, until any charges are pressed, you need to lie low, don't make any scenes. Keep yourself holed up in your apartment, go to church on Sundays. People will be watching you, everyone loves a good murder trial," she murmured, rattling off orders as she thought aloud.

He ran a hand through his hair and bit his lip, looking at the two women who had their eyes trained on him. "I think I can do that, I'll try at least," he finally said. Piper smiled sweetly at him, but Annabeth remained stony.

"Don't try, just do it. I'm trying to keep you from the electric chair here. I have a reputation to uphold," she said. Her face was marred with an unhappy smile. He was going to be trouble, she could feel it. "Here is my number, Piper's number, and the number for the firm's landline. Call us if you need anything," she murmured while jotting down the numbers of a slip of paper to hand to him. He took the slip of paper from her well-manicured hand, carelessly shoving it into his pocket. His spine seemed unable to support his full weight as he stood up, slouching over with a sigh.

"I really appreciate this," Percy added after a lull of silence, "I mean it, they would arrest me for sure without this," he motioned around the office and smiled sheepishly.

Piper was once again staring at her ring, but she managed to look up at Percy with another smile. "Don't make us regret it," Annabeth said, her voice sharp and warning. He rocked back on his heels, looking like the cat that ate the canary.

"I promise I'll be good."

Annabeth groggily rolled over in bed, her curls had dampened her pillow. Her phone continued to buzz on the night stand that sat by her bed. She let out a loud, disgruntled groan. Slowly, she pushed herself to a seated position and fumbled around until she managed to actually grab her phone.

The blinding screen showed the time as 2:27 in the morning, wincing, she quickly turned off the screen. The woman rubbed her eyes a few times before snatching the glasses off of the table where her phone previously rested. Unceremoniously, she slid them on her face and turned on the screen of her phone once again. Her eyes widened, why the hell did she have sixteen new messages?! That could only mean trouble.

She took a deep breath before unlocking her phone. Over half of the messages were from Piper.

**Check your phone**

**Annabeth you have to see this**

**This isnt good**

**Chase you better wake up or im coming over there**

**This is very very bad!**

The more Annabeth scrolled back to read through the frantic messages, the more her stomach began to churn. What the hell had happened? When she reached the end of the string of texts, she nearly threw her phone. It was a picture of a television headline, obviously taken in panic.

In bold letters, the headline read _"Perseus Jackson Caught on Camera After Bar Fight_."

Before she could even swing herself out of bed, her phone began ringing, the number calling her as unknown.

"What?!" She snapped angrily into her cellphone, seething. There was a pause on the other line.

"Annabeth, I screwed up..."


End file.
